About Us

The North Mill Avoncliff is presently owned (Since 2009) by the Earl brothers - local builders from Westwood (just over the hill to the south) - who devoted an extraordinary amount of time over many years to trace the owners of the derelict property and succeeded where many others failed.

The story of the search for the owners is quite epic with several characters along the way actually falsely claiming ownership and there were plenty of curious twists in the search. We have a page detailing the sleuthing that we indulged in.

The intention from the outset was to restore the property in a sympathetic traditional way in keeping with the original features and neighbourhood - but also to incorporate modern levels of insulation, improved construction techniques and proven technology where appropriate and possible.

A large part of the (re)development is the installation of appropriate technology for the generation of electricity from the water flowing over our 2 metre high weir. Considerable research (and dozens of site visits) have been done in collaboration with our long suffering hydro power agent Brendan Barrow to evaluate the best solution for hydro power at this location that combines maximum efficiency and reliability with minimum impact on this special corner of Wiltshire.